There are many good reasons to go walking in the woods. One good reason is to explore what was left by previous users of the land, and to consider the changes a place has experienced over time.

Old mines make excellent hiking destinations, even when they are small sites that are most exciting for the effort required to find them. I was looking through the book Iron Mine Trails for mines to explore, and the Roomy Mine stood out as a good candidate. The book says “The Roomy Mine is an excellent mine to visit early in your explorations of old mine trails.” That is a good start, but even more exciting were the words “The Roomy Mine can be entered.”

Iron mining in northern New Jersey, breaking and sorting iron ore from hard rock, was once a major industry that fed the region’s manufacturing centers and influenced early transportation networks. It also contributed to major deforestation, as countless trees were needed to fuel the furnaces that turned ore into usable iron, particularly before Pennsylvania coal was easy to get. Now trees again line the hills and a nice forest walk can be enjoyed on the way to explore the remnants of old industry.

We first stopped at the Blue Mine, a worthwhile detour on the way to the Roomy Mine. An unmarked trail along Blue Mine Brook leads right to the opening, a large, flooded cut into the hillside.

Just a little farther down the trail, a huge tailing pile gives a sense of how much rock was removed to find iron ore.

The top of the pile has the typical look of rounded rows of small rocks, a feature often found around iron mines in the area.

The Blue Mine was named for the blue tint of its ore. The deposit was discovered and first opened by ironmaster Peter Hasenclever around 1765. The company Hasenclever worked for operated several blast furnaces in the area. During the early 19th century, ore was shipped to Midvale, NJ until the furnace there was shut down in 1855. Apparently the Blue Mine’s ore contained a high percentage of sulfur, which led to lower-quality iron.

The Blue Mine was reopened briefly several times from the 1870s to the end of the 19th century, and the last attempt at mining was a 1905 opening that did not remove any ore. Heavy equipment was used at the Blue Mine, and a number of foundations are visible nearby.

The trail up to the Roomy Mine follows a wide path that was probably used to haul iron ore to furnaces.

The entrance is imposing and definitely inspired the urge to go in and have a look.

We got out our helmets and headlamps. While the mine appears pretty safe to explore without a helmet, head protection is still recommended due to the possibility of rocks falling from around the shaft and the low ceilings that will be encountered.

Entering the mine when bats may be hibernating is prohibited. Since we didn’t know this, it’s good that we ended up going three days after the mine re-opened.

According to Lenik, the Roomy Mine is named after Benjamin Roome, a local 19th Century land surveyor. It was opened in the early 1840s and worked until the late 1850s. Around 1890 it was re-explored, and has long been abandoned.

There is more than one way to enter the mine. The safest way is to crouch under the lower opening, where after just a few feet you will emerge into a big chamber. Not surprisingly, we did not choose the optimal route on the way in, and climbed down a steep slope from the top of the chamber. It looked cool though.

As impressive as the structure was, the hole in the rock face quickly gained our attention.

It was the entrance to an adit, a horizontal tunnel into the rock. It was a little spooky going in for the first time, but very exciting to explore.

Lenik says the tunnel is about 100 feet long. I didn’t take the time to measure, but I would say that sounds about right. It ends pretty abruptly where the ore vein stopped.

We found no bats, but plenty of insects.

There were also numerous tool marks inside. Typically, miners would hammer metal drills into the rock to make holes about four to six feet apart. The holes were then packed with explosive to blast ore from the hillside.

On the way out it was easier to take the time to appreciate the work that went into this structure. Iron taken from here was processed into all types of objects used by probably thousands of people.

Emerging from the pit and back into the sun gave me a feeling of release.

We were smart enough to take the easy way out of the mine instead of climb up the wet rock of the shaft.

The ridge above the mine offered excellent views of the hills and reservoir nearby. There were also a number of smaller mining or exploratory holes.

A hilly walk through a forest is a nice thing to do, and encountering tunnels left by people over a century before reveals the changing relationship between people and the surrounding landscape. A mine hike is a classic adventure in history.

Storm King Mountain rises dramatically from the Hudson River shoreline a few miles north of West Point. The round mountain offers vigorous hikes with excellent views of the valley below.

Of course, another good reason to go to Storm King is the excellent name that it has. Nineteenth-century writer Nathaniel Parker Willis gets credit for the name. Willis said the mountain was the tallest in the area and that storm clouds would first gather around its slopes when a storm was on its way. Before this, the mountain was called Butter Hill, apparently because locals thought it resembled a big lump of butter. (Today, a nearby summit is still called Butter Hill.)

There are a few different numbers found online for the summit elevation. The U.S. Geological Survey lists an elevation of 1345 feet. Of course, the mountain’s impressiveness is more about its steep slope on the riverside than an absolute height measurement.

Storm King can be explored pretty well in an afternoon. I began my hike at a small parking lot on Mountain Road about 0.7 miles north of Route 9W. I followed the yellow blazes of the Stillman Trail to the summit, most of the way accompanied by the teal blazes of the Highlands Trail.

The beginning of the hike uses old smoothly-graded roads, including very nice stone bridges.

Near the first junction with the blue-and-red blazed Bluebird Trail, some ruins are viewable. It looks like it was some sort of spring house. If I get the time to look it up in a local library, I’ll try to find out more.

The ground around the building was wet, and there was water in the little cylindrical stone structure.

Ascending the Stillman Trail offered great views to the north and east. Pollepel Island can easily be spotted and its ruins scoped out with some good glass.

Surprisingly there were a few patches of snow and ice on this April day with temperatures reaching seventy degrees.

The trail rounds a bend to a cool outcrop with southward-facing views.

However, the best view was from a rocky area shortly before the summit. Clear northward views let you see upriver past the end of the Hudson Highlands, the Newburgh-Beacon Bridge, and even a hint of the Shawangunk Range and the Catskill Mountains.

Across the river, Breakneck Ridge and Sugarloaf provide a nice backdrop for Pollepel Island.

Near the summit there are some stones that look to be from some kind of ruin.

The yellow-blazed Stillman Trail does not loop back to the parking lot, so after climbing the mountain I continued west along the Stillman Trail until its second intersection with the blue-and-red Bluebird Trail. I turned right (NNW) at the cairn and took the Bluebird back down to its lower intersection with the yellow trail.

It seems like it is popular to take this route in the opposite direction (getting on the blue-red trail on the way up at its lower junction with the yellow), but I enjoyed climbing along the precipice of the northeast face. It is not a quiet ascent, mainly because both sides of the river see train traffic.

The trails I used are actually found on Google Maps, but it seems like a number of the close switchbacks are not illustrated on Google. Also Google names trails incorrectly, and the full route of the Highlands Trail is not illustrated. An excellent map of the area is published by the The New York – New Jersey Trail Conference.

Storm King has long been admired for its striking features. Several Hudson River School painters depicted the mountain in the mid-nineteenth century. It was an excellent model for their depictions of raw and powerful natural settings.

A century later, Storm King was the focus of a crucial environmental dispute. In 1962 the Consolidated Edison Company announced plans for a massive electric generation project. The plans called for a pumped storage plant at the base of Storm King fed by a 260 acre reservoir to be constructed in nearby Black Rock Forest. In November 1963, local citizens formed the Scenic Hudson Preservation Conference to oppose the project. They argued that it threatened the local water supply, the Hudson River fisheries, and the scenic beauty and historic significance of Storm King Mountain. A number of environmental organizations and municipal governments joined Scenic Hudson in their legal fight against Consolidated Edison.

After numerous court battles the case was settled in December 1980. Numerous precedents in environmental law were set, including the participation of local citizens in environmental disputes and greater consideration for environmental impact in the construction approval process. Consolidated Edison terminated its plans for Storm King and pledged to reduce fish kills at power plants along the river and to establish a research fund for the Hudson River ecosystem. In return, the power company would not have to install closed-cycle cooling towers at existing plants.

Another episode in Storm King’s history was opened by a forest fire in 1999. Firefighters encountered explosions in the forest, and it was determined that the explosions were from artillery shells tested by the West Point Foundry over a century ago. The park was closed to the public. A subsequent investigation revealed that artillery shells from nearby West Point Military Reservation may also have been buried in the park. Following a lengthy cleanup of unexploded ordinance, the park was re-opened in 2003.

Long admired for its powerful figure above the Hudson River, Storm King is an easily recognizable feature that offers hikers a chance to get an excellent view of the valley below.

Traveling by snowshoe is an ancient practice made easier by modern technology. Putting something on your feet to spread out your weight over snow is a fairly simple idea, and today’s snowshoes descend from technology used for thousands of years. Snowshoes make it easier to experience the crisp winter environment, to be surrounded by the sight of bright white snow on dark trees and rocks, to see the sun shine on evergreens garnished in fluffy white.

People have been using primitive skis to hunt in snow for at least 8,000 years, but historical accounts suggest that snowshoes are not quite so old. Histories of snowshoeing available online seem to take their ancient history from The Snowshoe Book, a 1971 work by William Osgood and Leslie Hurley. Osgood and Hurley cite a number of sources in their book including images from the Public Archives of Canada.

According to The Snowshoe Book, snowshoes have probably been around for about 6,000 years. Skis were historically favored in Asia and Europe, but when people began to traverse deep powdery snow in North America they began to build snowshoes more.

Aboriginal people across North America built snowshoes in a variety of patterns. Snowshoe shapes were influenced by conditions prevalent in the local environment – broader snowshoes for open areas with deep snow, smaller snowshoes for thick forests. They were extensively used for hunting in winter.

Primitive snowshoes were made with branches and bark, but as the craft evolved, better techniques were used. Snowshoes would be made with a wooden frame, often with crossbars for support. Rawhide webbing woven across the frame created decking to give the shoe more surface area. A gap in the decking for the front of the foot to bend through made walking easier.

Seventeenth century French explorers and trappers were among the first Europeans to closely examine the Native snowshoe and adopt it for their own use.

The effective use of snowshoes to make winter raids during the French and Indian War led to widespread adoption of snowshoes by white people in the regions of North America where deep snow was common. Captain Robert Rogers led English colonists in using snowshoes for military purposes. The 1758 Battle on Snowshoes near Lake George convinced military leaders of their importance. Militia in the northern colonies would be outfitted with snowshoes.

As more Norwegians, Swedes, and Finns settled in North America in the nineteenth century, the ski began to gain popularity across the continent. But the snowshoe was never fully displaced for cross country travel. Community snowshoe outings were common in New England and recreational snowshoe clubs blossomed in Canada. In 1907, 22 Canadian snowshoe clubs formed the Canadian Snowshoer’s Union.

Snowshoes continued to be widely used in the twentieth century. The British government ordered thousands of snowshoes for their troops during the First World War. In 1928, an American Antarctic expedition led by aviator and explorer Richard Byrd brought 75 pairs of snowshoes along.

The second half of the twentieth century saw numerous innovations in snowshoe construction. Within a matter of decades, the ancient snowshoe of wood and rawhide would be overtaken by shoes made of light metals, plastics, and synthetic materials. In the 1960s the use of rawhide began to decline in favor of neoprene decking, which was more durable and less attractive to nibbling animals. In the early 1970s the aluminum framed snowshoe was developed. In the 1980s new synthetic materials used in decking made snowshoes even lighter.

Recreational snowshoeing grew in popularity during the 1990s. A resurgence in snowshoe racing in Colorado helped bring attention to snowshoes. Soon, major snowshoe manufacturers would add an additional set of traction spikes directly on the decking of the snowshoe near the user’s heel. In the mid 1990s MSR introduced a frameless snowshoe made of rigid plastic, an idea copied by other manufacturers. The company later introduced tail extenders, allowing the user to adjust the surface area of the snowshoe for different loads and conditions. Currently, metal framed snowshoes and all-plastic construction compete for popularity.

Most snowshoes today have slightly upturned front edges. A hinged footpad has metal spikes on the bottom for traction. Many models include a curve and a non-metal surface on the bottom of the footpad that deters (but will not completely prevent) snow from sticking to the bottom and forming a big snowball.

A big snowshoe is not great for picking your way between boulders, and it won’t prevent ice from breaking underneath you.

But if you want to head across snow unbroken by human footsteps, it’s a great way to go.

Snowshoes add traction and smooth out terrain. So even with big boards on your feet in snow that isn’t very deep, you may still use less energy than if you post-holed and sloshed your way up the hill. Feet without snowshoes often sink into snow at awkward angles. But the large surface area of snowshoes flatten out your steps and make it less likely that your ankles will turn at awkward angles as they sink into uneven snow.

Snowshoeing is basically hiking with additional equipment. Gaiters that are designed to keep snow out of boots will be helpful. It is generally recommended to wear wool socks, a thermal base layer shirt and pants made of synthetic material or wool, a waterproof jacket, preferably waterproof pants, and hat and gloves. You can add or remove insulation layers depending on how you feel. Waterproof hiking boots are highly recommended, but you may or may not want insulated boots. Note that snow in different regions may be more or less saturated with water, which could change the importance of waterproof clothing. In the old days, furs, wool, and high moccasins served to outfit snowshoers.

Bringing drinking water is a must in the cold and challenging conditions of winter, and even on a short outing some snacks will be nice. Some people like trekking poles too. They can help you balance and push off more easily but to me they are extra equipment that prevent your hands from being free and are not worth the trouble. As always, a map, compass, knife, and emergency kit are recommended.

People have traveled through winter landscapes for thousands of years. Today’s snowshoers are usually outfitted differently than their predecessors, but they can still feel the snow crunch underneath them as their body heats up surrounded by the cold air of winter.

On January 20, 1777, colonial militiamen waded across the icy Millstone River in water above their knees. The maneuver enabled them to get around the cannons their enemy had set up at a bridge, defeat a large foraging party, and capture tons of supplies the British had been trying to take to their winter encampments. The Battle of Millstone, sometimes called the Battle of Somerset Court House, was one fight in a series of engagements known as the Forage War.

For much of late 1776, George Washington’s forces had been enduring defeats and were forced increasingly farther out of New York. They retreated across New Jersey and crossed the Delaware River into Pennsylvania . As the British began settling into winter quarters, Washington feared for the survival of the Revolutionary cause. He decided to act boldly.

On Christmas night the Continental Army crossed the Delaware River in small boats. Early the next morning they surprised the 1200 strong Hessian garrison at Trenton and routed them. Washington won another important victory at Princeton on January 3, 1777. The Continental Army took to winter quarters in Morristown and the British to their own winter garrisons.

A major winter task for each side was to preserve the fighting shape of their army until campaigning began again in the spring. For this purpose the British sent numerous foraging parties into the countryside, where they were often met by militia. Dozens of engagements are recorded for the months when the main forces of the armies were camped in winter quarters.

On January 20, Lieutenant Colonel Robert Abercromby commanded a force of about 500, including British regulars, Hessian soldiers, and a pair of Three-Pounder cannon. The formidable company was on a successful pillage mission when they began loading their supply wagons around Van Nest’s Mill in Millstone, New Jersey.

Under orders from Washington, Brigadier General Philemon Dickinson brought out 400 New Jersey militiamen, together with a company of about 50 men from the Susquehanna Valley area armed with rifles and muskets. The latter were commanded by Captain Robert Durke.

After battling around the bridge, the American forces broke through the ice at the Millstone’s edge, forded the river, and surprised the enemy with a renewed attack. The British were driven from the field, leaving most of the pilfered supplies behind. The Americans captured 107 horses, 49 wagons, 115 cattle, 70 sheep, 40 barrels of flour, and numerous other supplies including cheese, butter, ham, and other foodstuffs. The Americans suffered 3 to 5 men killed and several wounded, while the British took away more casualties in wagons as they retreated.

Van Nest’s Mill is long gone, and the bridge over the Millstone has been replaced with a sturdy causeway. Just downstream (north) of the bridge, a small dam lays across the river. The water that spills over it still gets cold, but gives no indication that a bloody battle over critical food supplies was fought very close to here.

Southeast Asia includes a large area of rugged peaks and ridges that have long been home for people of various ethnic backgrounds. A nice place to begin exploring the highlands is northern Thailand.

We headed out of Chiang Mai in a rugged Toyota van packed with 11 people. As we got farther from the valley city, the road got progressively rougher, steeper, and narrower.

Our hike began at a Hmong village. We would travel through forest and farmland, all on mountain slopes.

Since we visited during dry season the ground was very dry and dusty even though green plants were all around.

The forest gets so dry that fires are sometimes caused by bamboo branches rubbing against each other in the wind. It was a little odd to walk by smoldering ash, but our Thai guide was clearly not concerned.

The air was not dry, however. A thick haze hung over the mountains.

Fortunately there was a nice place to cool off under a waterfall.

After a swim and a lunch we walked through a number of agricultural plots. We were told that opium and marijuana were major crops in the area before a combination of government sticks and carrots changed the situation. There are also serious efforts to get local kids attending official schools.

In his book The Art of Not Being Governed, James C. Scott argues that the history of upland Southeast Asia has been a history of various peoples deliberately avoiding state control. An important force in regional history has been the relationship between the lowlands that were easier to control and the highlands that typically offered refuge from rulers. Scott also writes that the upland-lowland dynamic has changed in the latter half of the twentieth century as states have employed modern technologies to bring the periphery under control, diminishing its role as a frontier refuge.

Scott uses the term Zomia to describe the vast upland region stretching across parts of Southeast Asia, southern China, and eastern India. He credits his use of the term to Willem van Schendel, who argued that the region was distinctive enough to merit its own designation and labelled it with a word meaning “highlander” in several related upland languages.

A nice base town for visiting the highlands is Chiang Mai.

The city of about 135,000 people contains numerous restaurants and bookstores that cater to foreigners as well as beautiful temples. It is also a good place to see a Muay Thai fight.

Although it was very easy to find tours of the highlands (we booked ours at the front desk of our hotel), it seemed surprisingly hard to go for a hike without hiring a guide. Unlike many American mountain towns I am familiar with, it was not easy to find trail maps in Chiang Mai. None of the many small bookstores we visited had maps. We probably could have figured it out if we were in the area for more than a few days (and we would have been more motivated to try) but our tour was good and inexpensive. Some exploring could probably be done with a vehicle and some printouts from Google Maps or other mapping software, but it would be difficult to know which areas were off-limits to visitors.

While the highlands of Southeast Asia are being integrated into the valley-based nations that claim them, the adventure of the mountains has not been tamed. Perhaps areas with a common environment will develop a stronger regional identity as economic, social, and technological changes continue to impact the relationship between hinterland and establishment.

Independence Day is a good time to brush up on American history before heading to the grill and fireworks. But any weekend is a good time to get outside, and those of us on the east coast have a variety of opportunities for an American Revolution history adventure.

This July 4 will mark 237 years since the Declaration of Independence was issued as the basis for a new nation. America has faced many challenges since then, as the pursuit of liberty has been an ongoing project.

Walking around places where liberty was cried out by so many provides a chance to connect with the past and understand what it means today. Here’s a short list of places to give you some ideas. A few interesting sites can be combined with big hikes too. Keep in mind that there could be crowds or special events for the holiday.

Independence National Historic Park, Philadelphia

This is where the big news happened in July of 1776. Today Independence National Historic Park contains a number of old buildings and exhibits including the original Independence Hall and the Liberty Bell. It is a nice place to walk around.

Freedom Trail, Boston

Tensions between American colonists and the British government were rising for years before independence, and this was especially true in Boston. The city’s 2.5 mile Freedom Trail includes several sites that played a significant role in the Revolution.

Minute Man National Historic Park, Massachusetts

American rebels and British troops first fired on one another at Lexington, MA on April 19, 1775. After the skirmish, the British regulars continued to Concord to look for hidden weapons. A bigger fight took place at a bridge over the Concord River. As the British troops withdrew to Boston, they faced continuous harassment from colonial militia. The bridge over the Concord River has been replaced several times since the battle, but it still marks an important historic location within Minute Man National Historic Park.

Fort Lee Historic Park, New Jersey

Fort Lee was built in the summer of 1776 to obstruct the British navy from sailing up the Hudson (which was sometimes called the North River). It was abandoned in November as George Washington’s forces were chased out of New York and across New Jersey, during the times that try men’s souls when the prospect of victory for the Patriots looked dim.

Occupying a small wooded area on the Hudson Palisades just south of the George Washington Bridge, Fort Lee Historic Park is good for a stroll past fortifications, views of Manhattan, and signs that describe the traps patriots laid for British ships. There are a surprising number of deer for a place right across the river from Manhattan. If you are up for some serious trail time, the 356-mile Long Path officially starts in the park.

Washington Crossing State Park, New Jersey

One of the crucial early battles of the Revolution (and the subject of an epic, though not entirely accurate painting) was the Battle of Trenton in December 1776. Washington’s forces took boats across the partially frozen Delaware River on a stormy Christmas night to attack the garrison of Hessian soldiers at Trenton on the following morning. The decisive victory got Washington back into New Jersey and gave a major boost to the patriot cause. A number of trails and historic markers are available to the visitor in Washington Crossing State Park.

Bennington, Vermont

A trip to Bennington offers numerous hiking opportunities just outside of town, as well as a chance to see the tallest structure in Vermont, a 306 foot tower commemorating the Battle of Bennington. A little northwest of the town, New England troops commanded by Brigadier General John Stark turned back a force of British regulars in August 1777, leading up to the crucial Battle of Saratoga.

Saratoga, New York

Many places have a claim to be a turning point in the Revolutionary War, but the American victory at Saratoga was undeniably critical. The surrender of General Burgoyne to Horatio Gates on October 17, 1777 not only halted the British advance in the Hudson valley, but also showed that Americans could defeat the British in a pitched battle and helped convince France to formally support the American cause. A visitor to Saratoga National Historic Park will be greeted by rolling hills, a number of scheduled programs, and signs describing Benedict Arnold’s more glorious days.

The site of a battle between American Patriots and Tories on October 7, 1780, Kings Mountain is interesting for several reasons. The victorious Patriots largely used rifles, which were slower to reload but significantly more accurate than the muskets their Tory enemies used. Thomas Jefferson called the battle “The turn of the tide of success” because it was the first major Patriot victory in the South after the British began their Southern campaign in the winter of 1778-1779.

Brigadier General Daniel Morgan effectively used a mix of sharpshooters, militia, and regulars to defeat a British and Tory force under the dreaded Banastre Tarleton at the Battle of Cowpens in January 1781. The battlefield does not include a lot of hiking mileage, but it was the site of a decisive victory in the Revolution and it is not far from Kings Mountain.

Yorktown, Virginia

The British war effort collapsed when General Cornwallis surrendered with his 8,000 troops to George Washington on October 19, 1781 following a lengthy siege by American and French forces. Much of Yorktown was destroyed in the course of the battle. The struggle for a favorable peace would eventually be won on September 3, 1783 after much diplomatic wrangling and a few minor battles.

Independence was achieved, but the outcome of the Revolution could only be settled in political battles over its meaning.